Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1887-01-15
SNOWY SOLDIERS.

S7O"I oS-0s~VSs
The Crack Troops Of France on Duty ~
Their Countrys Gay Capital.
If all the soldiers of France were as
good looking as the men in the regi-
ment of the 'Garde d'honneur du Gov
ernment de la Republique," then
would the army of this country be tho
finest body of warriors in the world.
Of course I do not mean to say that
the troops would be any drawer or
would fight better if all were as hand
some as the Paris guards, but style and
good looks go for great deal in the
excellence for food and gun-powder.
Those who have visited the capital will
bear me out in the assertion that on the
whole, the French army is an ugly
III e-sssd .s..ad 1,lc.ay -set-np body Of men
but that the Garde Republicaine' is as
splendid-looking well-disciplined and
neatly uniformed legion as any of
the Guards, Grenadiers or Black
Watches of the United Kingdom. Now,
the particular corps of which I am
speaking is not only an admirable mill
tary organization, but it is also the
finest exemplifcation OF what a public
force ought to be-the army in the
service of the civil law-that I know
of. The Garde Republicaine is a bri-
gade of gendarmes charged with the
maintenance of public order in the
French capital. Gendarmes and the
guards are picked soldiers belonging
in reality to the same branch of the
public service, differing only in the
color of their trefoil shaped epaulettes,
which from time immemorial have been
fo <1,o anA for
the latter, and in their head covering.
The infantry of the guard, instead OF
the classic cooked hat worn as Napo-
leon /. wore his Legendary Jicor'ae.
wear the African shake, stiff, light
/ cap with visor. while the cavalry sport
helmets very similar to those of the
regular cuiras assiers.
The .'Garde d'honneur du Govern
ment de la Republique," as the Minister
of War calls them, is composed of two
divisions-the infantry, in which there
are three battalions, and the cavalry,
consisting of three squadrons. The
legion is commanded by a Colonel who
belongs to the gendarmerie, and who
as general thing is only promoted to
the position after having filled that OF
chief of legion in the gendarmerie OF
his department He is assisted in his
duties by two woLieutenant-Colonel s-one
, for the mounted men, the other for thu
"doughhovs'' Besides these there ar
six Chiefs of Squadrons, thirty Captains
six Captains-Adjutant, forty-eigh
Lieutenants for the infantry and TWEEN
ty-four Lieutenants for the cavalry
total one hundred and seventeen Off
GERS, who command about twenty-eigh
hundred men, of whom six hundred
are cavalry. Formerly this legion was
known by the name of Garde Munich
pale; then the name of the corps wa.
changed to Garde de Paris. and botf
of these had the merit of defining more
exactly than the one it now officially
bears the functions for which it was es
tablished The protection Of goot
order in the capital was the real rdiso1
d'etre of this corps d'elite. and the city
paws half the cost of its maintenance
According to a decree issued by Louis
Napoleon in 1854, and by which the.
are governed, the gardes are. so t.
speak. part of the Prefecture of Police
while in all relating to the execution
of the laws they are also an auNiliar.
of the courts of justice. This doubl
line of duty has led to division OF I'll
service of the corps into two branches
that of the prefecture and that of tn
courts, and must therefore define wha
these distinct duties consist of. Thos
: which it performs as an auxiliary of tn
Prefecture OF Police are of two sorts
, daily duty and an extraordinary on'
. The daily duties consist of mountin
:, guard at the Grand Opera, the theater
- the circuscs and the public balls. l
- each place of amusement platoon
y squad is detailed every evening. al
~ their marching through the streets
%, one of the pretty sights of the capita
: Often, too. some of the gardes are sci
. 90 assure good order wherever crow
y has assembled for any lawful purpos
-Pa2Is Cor. San Francisco Chronic!